The United States and Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan is a functionally autonomous liberal democracy and major global economy of 23 million people. Its status is complicated and contested, with one state, the PRC, intent on revising the current status quo of Taiwanese de facto independence within the framework of the ROC. Strategically, and in terms of geopolitics, Taiwan is crucial. A radical change in the status quo, in the guise of independence or unification, would have significant ramifications for the entire Western Pacific. Given the stakes, for the people of Taiwan and the strategic objectives of major actors, the Taiwan issue is a constant source of concern. With no exaggeration, the Taiwan issue is a potential source of conflict between the US and China. For more than forty years this outcome has been avoided due to structural constraints and the restraint shown by the protagonists of the triangular relationship. Economic growth and productive economic relations among the three sides have flourished. Underpinning this equilibrium is a US policy virtually unchanged through four decades of substantial changes. The constituent parts of the US “One China Policy” are a hodgepodge of Acts of Congress, legislation, communiques and joint statements, but the resulting policy framework has demonstrated enduring utility. It underpins a posture of “strategic ambiguity” that has discouraged both Beijing and Taipei from altering the status quo in pursuit of their preferred outcomes. This chapter dissects the US policy as it has been and discusses the serious and growing challenges to its continuation.